Big Smash: Galaxy clusters in collision

Astronomers last week unveiled the most detailed image ever taken of a rare type of cosmic train wreck—the collision of two of the universe's most massive clusters of galaxies. Taking place over several hundred million years, the merger is the most powerful that's ever been so clearly recorded, says Patrick Henry of the University of Honolulu in Hawaii. He and his collaborators described the findings during a NASA telephone briefing on Sept. 23 and will report additional details in an upcoming Astrophysical Journal.

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